Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-02-02


like spirit! Irejeice in tho belief that thos'
who come to Christ to-day, come aware o
their sins and their wants, and have learn
ed how to fly low.
Again: These persons who come to-day
are like doves on their way 10 the dose-cot
because they fly fer shelter. The albatros'
makes throne of the tempest: the sea-gull'
find their grandest frolic in the storm
their merriest hour seems to be that il
which the surf of the sea piles most high
Not so with doves: at the first blow of tht
MOI theaster they fly to the coop. Eagle eon
tends with eagle in mid air, aud vulturt
fights vulture on the bosom Of the cal cass
but doves at the first dash of the birds o
prey, speed for shelter from fiery eyes apd
iron beak and loathsome talon. So to-da,
these souls come here for shelter. Every
one has besetting sin; that sin is always
after you. Tho robber watches you whel
you come out of the bank. sees in what
pocket you put the money, follows you
dewn the street, notices where yon 60 to
dine, and where you sleep, and what kind
of lock you have on your door; SO there il
some sin ever on mans track. 1t goes
with him to the store, 1t sits On the money
safe, it looks over his shoulder while he
makes out the bill Of lading, it goes out
with him to dine, it walks home with him
at night. As to some dog that you do moi
want to follow you but persists. you say to
it: "Back home with you p You stone il
away and start on. After awhile, casually
turning your eye, you find it close after you
with sneaking look. Wherever you go
sin goes; where you stay, sin stays. You
watched the hawk above the barn yard; il
sails around and around over the brood OF
chickens-around aud around, until at last
it drops and seizes its prey. There is a
hawk ready to pounce ON every dove, and
that is the reason that these doves come to
day to the windows they want shelter in
the grace of God and in Christian associa,
tions. They say: eff there is any power in
your prayers, let me have them; if there be
any virtue in good counsels. give them to
me; if there be anything elevatingin Chris
tian associations, let me feel their influ-
ence'' "Where thou dwellest will dwell
Thy people shall be my people, thy God my
God" Open your doors, o, Chnrch of
God! and let them come in Gas doves to
their windows"
Christ is the only shelter of the soul in
trouble. What can you do without Him
when sorrow comes? Perhaps at first you
take valerian to quiet your nerves, or alco-
hol to revive your spirits;. but have You
found anything iu the medicines or pbysi-
cal stimulants suffiaient? Perhaps in the
excitement of the meney market. or in the
merry ma king of the club you have soaght
relief. This world has no balsam for a
wounded seul, no shelter for a bruised
spirit. The dove in the time of the deluge
few north and it was all water, in which
were tossed the carcasses of the dead world,
and the FIRST solid thing the doves feet
touched was the window of the ark. So the
soul IN trouble goes out in one direction and
finds nothing substantial to rest upon, and
in another direction, and every whittier,
but there is no rest for the dove save the
ark.
Substantial comfort will not grow
In Natures barren soil:
All we can boast, till Christ we know.
Is vanity and soil;
But where the Lord has planted grace,
And made His glories known.
There fruits of heavenly joys are found;
And there alene."
You lost parent; some one said that ii
was in the regular course of nature that
your father should expire. Did that eom-
lOTL your gu lOSb IL CuHUs SWutUOUt Sdlu
if that child had lived it might have turned
out badly. Did that comfort you? You
lost your property: they told you that riches
were very uncertain. You knew that be-
fore. You were sick; they explained that
the difficulty was in the secretions or in the
sciatic nerve. Did that soothe you? O.
the despicable quackery of earthly comfort!
But when Christ comes to the soul and
cfak Iao toI
to give you more valuable treasures; made
you sick in body that your soul might be
brought up to eternal health; | took your
loved ones away because have better and
brighter place for them in my own pres
ence," then the wound heals, then the tears
dry off the face, then God has become the
everlasting portion Of the soul. Oh, the air
is full of black wings and ravens heaks.
They join their wings of darkness until they
shut out the light of the sun. They have
clangor is horrible to the ear. Trouble and
disease and death come down on the wind.
No wonder these souls have come for shell
ter las doves to their windows " What
does the pigeon in the coop care for the
hawk in the sky?
Safe in Christ, safe forever. The noun
t1iuS III dy uCpdIb anu tu6 HillS O6 IGuUNSu,
but Thy loving kindness shall never fail.
Again: These sonls, like doves. fly home.
Most of the. winged deDizens have no home:
now they are at the North and now at the
South, as the climate indicates. This year
nest in enc tree, next year a nest ia an
other tree. The golden oriole remains but
three months of the year in Germany, and
is then gone. The linnet of Nor way crosses
tI,aO G.xl l,o xxy.,1
ter's blast. The heron. the goldflnch and
the gross-beak are migratory. The cranes
call each other together several days before
going, choose their leader, arrange them
selves in two lines, forming an angie, and
are gone. But the pigeons, alluded to in
the text, summer and winter and always,
have a home in the dOve-cet And 81
Christ is the home of those who come to
Him. He is a warm home; they rest under
the ''feathers of the Almighty Christ
tells us that chickens find not a warmer
place under the wing of the hen than we i u
Him. He is a safe home; our fortunes may
go down ten degrees below zero, the SHOWS
Of trouble may fall, the winds Of persecu-
ton may howl, the jackals of death may
stalk forth-all is we'll, for ''great peace
have they who trust in God" From this
boihS ohdii uCNCI OO oIiFCu oubs nc
sheriff may sell us out of our earthly house
or the fires may burn it down, or the winds
carry it away. but that home shall always
be ours.
Men talk as though starting fer Ged were
putting out on a trackless moor; or wander
ing through the sauds of a great Sahara
No, no; it is coming to the warmest anc
best of homes, as doves to the windows
Again: These souls to-day gathering fol
mem bership are like doves. because they
Come in flocks. The buzzard, with drip
ping beak. fluttering up from the carrion
is alone. You occasionally look up against
the wintry sky and see solitary bird wing
ing past. But doves or pigeons are il
fioeks; by scores and hundreds do they fly
You hear the loud whirr of their wings al
they pass. So to day we see great flock
coming into the Kingdom. 1t is not &
straggler, trying to catch up with his regi
ment; it is solid phalanx, taking the king
dom. 1t is not drop on your hand q
check that leaves you ia doubt whether il
rains or not, but the rush of an uumstak
able shower. 1t is not the raking-up of thu
gleanings, but the tossing up Of the full
sheaves into the mow-"as doves to thei
windows" There are all ages in this flock
Some of them are young, and the very first